Owls Head man to serve 4 years for meth lab involvement

By Juliette Laaka | Aug 19, 2014

Source: Knox County JailTravis Batty.

Rockland — A 30-year-old man with prior drug convictions pleaded guilty Aug. 13 to running a methamphetamine lab in Owls Head and was sentenced to serve four years in prison for his involvement in the drug operation.

Travis Batty was living at 21 South Shore Drive when he and three other people were charged with trafficking methamphetamine after Maine Drug Enforcement agents raided the home in November 2013. He was charged with felony aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, but the charge was reduced in August, nixing the aggravated status of the count.

Batty has prior felonies including drug convictions and two failure to appear convictions. He was sentenced to eight years in prison with all but four years of the sentence suspended. He was also ordered to abide by three years of probation.

Also charged was Damien Welch, 22, of Owls Head. Welch is charged with aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine. Welch pleaded guilty to the charge Aug. 13, but will be sentenced Sept. 2. He is expected to be sentenced to eight years in prison with all but four years suspended, as is recommended by the state.

Anthony Torre, 22, also living in Owls Head, was sentenced to serve six years in prison with all but three years suspended after he pleaded guilty in May to trafficking in methamphetamine.

Heather Gregory, 40, of Owls Head is also charged with felony trafficking in methamphetamine.

In November, agents wearing hazardous materials protection suits entered the home and gathered evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing. It appeared the drug had been produced a number of times at that location, according to law enforcement.

The chemicals used in the process of making the drug are both toxic and potentially explosive, according to officials at the scene.

Police said suspects used a "one-pot" method to produce the drug, which is a less refined version of crystal methamphetamine. Agents dismantled five containers inside the home where meth was suspected to have been made, according to Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.

Courier Publications reporter Juliette Laaka can be reached at 594-4401 or by email at jlaaka@villagesoup.com.